Call for balance in ACC leadership

The ACC Futures Coalition today called upon the Minister of ACC to seize the opportunity presented by the recent clear out of members of the ACC Board to restore some balance to the leadership of the corporation.

“The past few years have demonstrated the danger of viewing ACC as simply another insurance company and stuffing the board with people who only understand the bottom line,” said Hazel Armstrong, convenor of the ACC Futures Coalition. “The books may have looked good but public confidence in ACC has been dramatically undermined as a culture of disentitlement and exclusionsdominated."

“The Minister now has the opportunity with ACC Chair John Judge was stepping down and two other board members going to appoint a board that reflects the range of interests in ACC,” said Ms. Armstrong, “We accept that there is a need for financial expertise and business interests to be on the board but other interests need to be represented too.”

“We definitely need union and claimant representation . it was a grave mistake by the previous Minister to remove people with the expertise of Ross Wilson and Wayne Butston. However, health professionals and those with expertise in areas such as injury prevention and rehabilitation should also be considered. A broad base is required.”

“Such a board should then make sure that it appoints a Chief Executive with a public service background,” said Ms. Armstrong. “ACC is a public sector agency with an obligation to serve the public and meet the public accountability that goes with the territory. We need someone who understands that, and a leader from a private sector insurance background just doesn’t have the right grounding.”

“ACC has had a chequered history in chief executives over the last decade or so, and those that have done best have been those, such as Jan White, who have that pubic sector experience. That is the kind of person the board needs to look to,” concluded Ms. Armstrong.